VisionWeb has announced that Uprise, its cloud-based practice management and EHR solution,has received Meaningful Use Stage 2 Certification as a Complete EHR for the ambulatory setting by Drummond Group, an Office of the National Coordinator Authorized Certification Body. Eyecare providers using Uprise are qualified to receive federal stimulus monies upon demonstrating meaningful use of the technology.

“2014 Edition Meaningful Use requirements are stringent and we expect many vendors will face challenges when trying to achieve complete certification,” said Ken Engelhart, President and CEO of VisionWeb. “Some will opt for modular certification, only testing a portion of the required objectives; some will wait to pursue certification after we are well into 2014. We simply don’t think that’s good enough. Eyecare providers deserve a solution that can keep up with all of the progressing regulatory requirements they face. Uprise is that solution.”

The Uprise EHR was developed in partnership with VitalHealth Software to deliver the most technologically advanced solutions for eyecare providers. Utilizing a cloud-based platform for Uprise ensures that all users have access to the most current software releases. It also allows VisionWeb to deliver on its ongoing promise of providing solutions that help practitioners navigate the ever-changing technology landscape, such as the transition to ICD-10, which is already embedded [Read more…]

VitalHealth Software, a provider of web-based solutions for health management established by Mayo Clinic and the Noaber Foundation, today announced that Dr. Lester Wold has joined the company as Chief Medical Officer.

Dr. Wold will help advise the company’s long-term market strategies for care collaboration, disease management, specialty EHR applications, and patient engagement. “We are thrilled to have Les join our leadership team and help us refine and apply our industry-leading ehealth solutions in this rapidly changing healthcare delivery and reimbursement environment. Les brings outstanding leadership and clinical experience to VitalHealth, and we look forward eagerly to benefitting from his guidance and contributions,” said Blair Butterfield, President of VitalHealth Software for North America.

Prior to his retirement from Mayo Clinic, Dr. Wold served in various leadership roles over the course [Read more…]

The Mayo Clinic and drchrono have announced an exclusive partnership to provide patient-specific educational resources to physicians using the drchrono electronic health record platform.

As the first EHR to work with the Mayo Clinic, drchrono has developed a way to take the digitized patient educational material provided by Mayo and to allow doctors to share the information with patients in an efficient and paperless way.

We’ve all had the experience of leaving the doctors office with a pamphlet filled with information we’re expected to read and understand. In many cases those pamphlets go directly into a health folder filled with information and medical bills for later reference.

One of the major benefits of this partnership between drchrono and the Mayo Clinic is that physicians can now distribute the information contained in those pamphlets electronically, to the devices their patients prefer to read on, making it much more likely that the material will be consumed.

With the distribution of patient educational material now a meaningful use component it’s even more important to provide information that patients will actually read or watch. According to Michael Nusimow, CEO of drchrono, “If you’re using an iPad, and you’re seeing this information displayed as a beautiful full color document or a hi-resolution video, from a trusted source like the Mayo Clinic, it’s a great visual experience. Since we’re all such visual creatures it can significantly increase patient compliance.”

The inclusion of Mayo Clinic educational material in the drchrono electronic health record [Read more…]

VitalHealth Software has announced that Healthy Transformation, a provider of health coaching and lifestyle management services, has selected the VitalHealth EHR solution in an effort to reduce employer healthcare costs by improving employee quality of life through preventative healthcare and wellness training and education.

Healthy Transformation offers a cutting edge, holistic approach to healthcare, providing one-on-one health and wellness coaching in a corporate setting. Healthy Transformation’s corporate health and wellness program focuses on the prevention and maintenance of chronic conditions through education and coaching, improving the personal health and well-being of client’s employees and therefore decreasing healthcare costs at the corporate level.

Based on extensive research and developed with intellectual property licensed from Mayo Clinic, VitalHealth’s EHR technology platform was designed to be extremely easy to use with an intuitive, customizable interface that supports physicians and nurses in their highly-varied workflow needs, offering point-of-care decision support, smart alerts, population and disease management, and electronic lab ordering and resulting. The VitalHealth EHR is also one of the first platforms designed specifically for use with an Apple iPad® as well as other tablet formats, laptops and desktops. [Read more…]

VitalHealth Software, a provider of web-based software solutions for health management, today announced that its VitalHealth EHR version 1.8, the latest version of its electronic health record solution for small practices, is 2011/2012 compliant and has been certified as a Complete EHR by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology.

VitalHealth EHR for Practices was specifically built for small physician practices with fewer than 10 practitioners and is now scheduled to be available for purchase in the 4th quarter of this year. The company’s website still says Q3 for the release but based on this latest news release they do not expect to meet that date. The product is currently in a beta test test phase.

The company describes VitalHealth EHR as a next-generation EHR was designed to be extremely easy to use in the highly-varied work styles of small practices with significant levels of customization and flexibility. Based on extensive research and designed with intellectual property licensed from Mayo Clinic, the VitalHealth EHR is one of the first EHRs designed specifically for use with an Apple iPad® as well as other tablet formats, laptops and desktops. [Read more…]

Rock Health, a new seed accelerator devoted exclusively to interactive health care applications, opened up their offices last week to eleven start-ups who are in the process of developing mobile and web based healthcare technology.

Rock Health is using the Y-Combinator model of making extremely early stage investments in a number of different startups in hopes of nurturing them to viability. They plan on doing this by providing access to office space in San Francisco, branding, communications and legal support as well as access to mentoring and Rock Health medical partners like Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, the Mayo Clinic and Harvard Medical School.

Halle Tecco - Co-Founder & Managing Director Rock Health

I had the opportunity to speak with Rock Health co-founder and Managing Director Halle Tecco who explained that while things were somewhat chaotic in the new office space people were settling in and great work was being done.

Rock Health’s initial group of startups will all be working from within the new offices and they’ll be joined by at least 20 other ‘member startups’. These companies will have access to Rock Health support and expertise as well as access to the office space for meetings but Rock Health is not, at present, funding them.

We started our conversation by discussing the expectations that Rock Health had for this initial group of startups. According to Halle “the 11 startups came to us at different stages of their development. Some came to us with just a great idea and a great team while others had teams that had already released a product to the market. So across that spectrum we have different expectations based upon where they started.”

She continued by saying “generally we hope they make significant progress in two places. One is the product, getting a really well designed meaningful product up and running and being testing with our hospital partners, patients and medical professionals. And second there is the business behind the product. Thinking through the financing model and how they’ll get access to capital to grow. Coming up with the business plan and the revenue model, coming up with a really solid story and then connecting them with the investors.”

As a seed accelerator Rock Health wants to be able to remove the hurdles that most startups face when trying to launch their businesses. By providing access and support to the founders while they focus on building their applications Rock Health will significantly smooth the pathway to building the type of sustainable company that venture investors are actively looking to invest in. Of course the relationships that Rock Health has with their medical partners should be invaluable to new healthcare technology companies as well. [Read more…]

VitalHealth Software has announced that it has submitted its VitalHealth EHR for Practices version 1.8, the latest version of its electronic health record (EHR) solution for small practices, for Stage 1 Meaningful Use certification. The company is also broadening its beta testing program for the product and inviting small practices across the nation to participate. According to the company website the product is still expected to be available for purchase in Q-3 of this year.

Once the product is deemed 2011/2012 compliant, VitalHealth EHR for Practices version 1.8 will be certified as a “Complete EHR” by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), as part of the ONC-ATCB certification program, and in accordance with the applicable hospital certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. [Read more…]

VitalHealth Software (www.vitalhealthsoftware.com) has entered into collaboration with Mayo Clinic to develop a next-generation Electronic Medical Record (EMR) designed to support the workflow of primary care physicians.

Less than 20 percent of today’s small primary care practices in the U.S. use an EMR. Already burdened by keeping up with all aspects of running a medical practice, today’s primary care physicians often consider EMRs too cumbersome and time-consuming to use. The next-generation primary care record under development by Mayo Clinic and VitalHealth Software will create simplicity at the point of care while contributing to quality of care and patient satisfaction.

The technology platform is based on several years of development and systems implementation design within the primary care practices at Mayo Clinic Rochester. The new solution will support the workflow needs of today’s medical practices, including point-of-care decision support, population management and reporting. The system is designed to be significantly easier to use than today’s EMR solutions and minimizes data entry. Key features include:

2010 ICSI/IHI Colloquium on Health Care Transformation

This year ICSI and IHI will offer three distinct tracks so that you can hone in on topics most relevant to your success: Track One: Quality and Safety, Track Two: Leadership and Health Care Reform, Track Three: Innovation